How to use a Charcoal Barbecue Grill as a Smokers Grill

The main difference between a charcoal barbeque grill and a smokers grill is that in a smokers grill, the fire is contained so that the temperature stays at only around 200-250 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that the meat cooked on the smokers grill needs to be cooked for longer, since it is being cooked at a lower temperature. The charcoal barbecue grill, on the other hand, is built to cook at higher temperatures, so it cooks food in a shorter period of time.

Why would you want to use a smokers grill when a charcoal barbecue grill can get the job done faster? The answer is that meat cooked on a smokers grill will very often taste much better than meat cooked on a charcoal barbecue grill. The meat cooked on a smokers grill can be made so tender that it melts in one’s mouth. The taste is also vastly superior to meat cooked on a charcoal barbeque grill.

Unfortunately, smokers grills are not as common as charcoal barbeques, and most people who already own a charcoal barbeque do not want to spend extra money on a smoker grill. Luckily, it is possible to use your charcoal barbeque as a smokers grill. All you have to do is contain the fire and keep it towards one side of the grill. If you put your food far from the fire, you will be able to cook it at low temperatures just like you would with a smokers grill.

To make a smoker, you’ll need these materials:

- Charcoal barbeque

- Fuel (hardwood, charcoal, etc.)

- Way to light the fuel (charcoal chimney)

- Drip pan

- Water pan

- Oven safe thermometer

For pans you can use the aluminum pans that are available at most grocery stores. You will also need something to cook, and some free time.

The first step in building the smoker grill is starting a fire. Start with taking the grill grate out of your charcoal grill and building a fire on one side of the grill. Do not build it in the middle. If there is any wind, put the fire on the windward side, that is, the side that has wind blowing against it. This will create airflow that will improve the smoking of your meat.

After starting the fire, you need to assemble the smoker. This is done by first putting the drip pan on the side of the grill that is opposite from the fire. Then replace the grill grate. Wait for the coals to heat up. When they are white, you are ready to cook. Fill the water pan about 2/3 of the way full (with water) and position it right over the fire. This is a key aspect of the smokers grill because it will add moisture to the atmosphere inside the grill. Now that the grill is set up, put the meat over the drip pan, the thermometer next to the meat, and the lid back on the grill.

In addition to the water pan, another key aspect of a smokers grill is airflow. This is probably the most important part of the set up! Depending on what type of charcoal barbeque you have, you should adjust the vents so that you get airflow coming in under the fire and going out through a vent above the meat. Doing this will guide the air through the fire, over the water pan and across the meat as it passes through the cooking grill. Since every charcoal barbeque grill is different, there is no sure-fire way to do this, but you need to test and adjust the vents to try to keep the meat at a temperature between 200 and 250 degrees F.

Now that you have the meat cooking you should keep the grill lid closed as much as possible. However, you need to continue monitoring the fire and the temperature. From time to time you should add more coals to the fire to stop it from getting too low, but don’t add to many, or the temperature will rise too high. Once you have your charcoal barbecue grill set up correctly, it will function almost as well as a smokers grill. It will just require a bit more vigilance in watching the temperature from you.

If you don’t want to go through the extra difficulty of controlling the fire and temperature of your charcoal grill, you can always splurge and buy an actual smokers grill that is built to smoke meat correctly.